Building Healthy Communities: the Obesity Epidemic

Building Healthy Communities.

The Obesity Epidemic.

Eileen Heron HSS341

In this essay we will be looking at obesity from the theoretical perspectives of social constructionism and lifecourse within the context of building healthy communities. We will look to demonstrate the complex and changing political landscape that is shaping current and future community health initiatives and critically evaluate the literature and research available. We will consider what constitutes obesity and look at research that suggests more consideration needs to be given to psychosocial, economic and lifestyle choices. We will deliberate how the built environment might impact on initiatives and obesity strategies and consider possible solutions to resolve this problem. We will also consider the population based interventions that community health initiatives are providing both now and in the future that might encourage communities and individuals to form a collective responsibility towards obesity.

Despite warnings, the obesity problem continues to grow; obesity is recognised as being one of the main contributors to the global burden of disease, through the increased risk of obesity-related illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes and cardio vascular disease. According to the W.H.O. (2005),”the number of overweight and obese people worldwide will increase to 1.5 billion by 2015 if current trends continue”. In Britain this would result in an estimated “60.8% of adults and 31.1% of children being classed as overweight and almost a quarter of adults classified as obese”, (www.bbc.co.uk ). But how do we classify obesity? Currently, a person is categorised as obese when they have a “Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 30, this is calculated by the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in metres” (WHO 2006), the assumption being that any measurements greater than 30, for people of the same height, is due to fat mass. Waist circumference is another important measurement in...